1. Field of the Invention
The present patent application concerns a method and apparatus that generates flight-optimizing trajectory(ies) for aircraft to facilitate the operation of such aircraft. More specifically, the present invention provides an apparatus and method to improve the likelihood of submitting an approvable trajectory change request.
2. Description of Related Art
As should be apparent to those skilled in the art, requests for trajectory changes are regularly made by pilots to air traffic controllers during flight.
As also should be apparent to those skilled in the art, requests for trajectory changes are more likely to be approved if the requested trajectory does not conflict with trajectories of other traffic aircraft.
In addition, approvable trajectory change requests may benefit the aircraft operator by increasing the portion of the flight flown on or near a desired trajectory, thereby accomplishing various operator objectives for the flight such as maximizing fuel efficiency, minimizing flight time, and/or reducing the impact of turbulence on ride quality.
Approvable trajectory changes also may benefit the air traffic controllers by reducing their workload through reduction of non-approvable trajectory change requests.
While these basic tenets of aviation travel are well understood, under current aviation protocols, requests for trajectory changes are generated only by pilots and flight crews and are considered for approval only by authorized air traffic controller personnel.
To date, a system and method for helping the pilot to identify opportunities for requesting an approvable trajectory change that achieves the aircraft operator's flight optimizing objectives remains unavailable.